Hometown:Ambler, Pennsylvania

Education:

  • Pennsylvania State University; Finance

Job: Corporate Transactional Associate, Hogan Lovells

Program: Full-Time Day

Law School Lessons

Do not be afraid to ask questions. I feel very strongly that my success at Temple came as a result of the freedom I felt to ask questions both in and out of class. Law school can be an intimidating place and it is not easy to intentionally single yourself out when asking what you may think is a silly question. If there is something you do not understand, that you want the professor to repeat, or if you simply want to rephrase the rule in a way that makes sense to you, go for it. Most of the time, not only will it benefit you but it will also benefit the other students in class. (But make sure you are not going overboard with your questions. Find that happy medium)

Faculty Impact

I want to start off by saying that I have been extraordinarily impressed with the entire Temple Law faculty throughout my time here. The open-door policy that Temple practices really does foster an environment of easy and open communication from student to faculty. That being said, there are a few professors that firmly stand out in positively influencing my legal education. 

Professor Andy Monroe is an absolute joy to have as a professor and mentor. I was fortunate enough to take her Tax I class, act as a teaching assistant in the same course, and help out during the ITS (Intro to Transactional Skills) workshops held each year. She provides an invaluable resource both in a teaching capacity as well as in the compassion and empathy she expresses toward the students.

Professor Harwell Wells embodied those characteristics that I always wanted to see in a law school professor. In addition to taking Property and Unincorporated Business Organizations with Professor Wells, he acted as my Temple Law Review Faculty Advisor. I was always excited for his classes. There was something about his ability to guide the class, break the seemingly complex material down, and throw in a little humor here and there to keep things fun that helped make my time at Temple one that I will look back on fondly.

I firmly believe that Professor Tom Lin is one of the best “showmen” there is at Temple. By that, I mean his lectures were engaging and the preparation he put into each one showed and was appreciated. I had Professor Lin for Corporations, Securities Regulation, and Corporate Scandals & Crises. I would have taken more of his classes, but those were all he taught. My interest is in the business law field and Professor Lin was able to provide me with some of the working knowledge and skills necessary to start my legal career on the right footing. As an aside, his Corporate Scandals & Crises class was arguably my favorite class at Temple.

Temple Law Community

I look back on my time as a Teaching Assistant for Contracts, ITS, and Tax I as some of my favorite memories at Temple. Being able to interact with the 1L students as they navigate their way through the first chapter of their law school career and (hopefully) be of some help was extremely rewarding. More than that though, I was glad that these positions provided me with the opportunity to meet and interact with more of the students here. I made some great friends during my office hours that I look forward to staying close with.

Looking Back

I wish I had taken advantage of office hours earlier on during my time at Temple; those held by professors and those held by teaching assistants. Office hours can provide you with a supplemental setting to work through the material with the benefit of having either the professor or a teaching assistant to help steer you toward what you should be pulling out of the lectures and readings. After not taking advantage of these resources during my first semester, I quickly learned from my mistake and began incorporating office hours into my normal study/review routine. Also, make sure you take plenty of practice exams under simulated time constraints. Knowing how to answer the exam questions in the allotted time as well as understanding how to pace yourself is important to earning a good grade.